1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for updating stored information contained within a peripheral device connected to a broadcast receiver.
2. Description of Art Related to the Invention
Over the last few years, there has been a growing demand for entertainment systems working in conjunction with various types of broadcasting systems. An example of the entertainment system includes a digital satellite system (DSS). The DSS includes an antenna that receives a digital bit stream from DSS satellites and routes the bit stream to an integrated receiver decoder (IRD). The IRD is responsible for decoding the bit stream and processing the decoded bit stream to produce one or more output signals. These output signals are sent to one or more peripheral devices. For example, one output signal may be sent to an analog-input peripheral device (e.g., television receiver or an analog recorder "VCR"). Another output signal may be sent to another analog-input peripheral device or a digital-input peripheral device (e.g., a remote transmitter).
One disadvantage associated with conventional entertainment systems is that these systems are not configured to fully utilize their broadcast capability. More specifically, a conventional entertainment system is unable to provide update data to one or more peripheral devices. "Update data" includes software programs or any other data to be substituted for stored data contained in the peripheral device(s). For example, the update data may include a software patch to fix minor bugs in software pre-loaded into a peripheral device. This could be used to possibly avoid costly recalls of peripheral devices. Additionally, update data may include control codes to be loaded into a remote transmitter. This would allow the remote transmitter to identify and support a peripheral device connected after installation and setup of the IRD.